KARACHI, Aug 22: Sindh Minister for Fisheries Zahid Ali Bhurgari said during question hour in the provincial assembly on Friday that Sindh had contacted the federal authorities to gain administrative control of the Korangi Fish Harbour and that he would be meeting the federal minister concerned soon in this regard.

He said this in reply to a question about the harbour, which is under federal jurisdiction, during Friday’s special session of the assembly.

Mr Bhurgari answered members’ questions along with Minister for Livestock Abdul Haq Bhurt after the house was called to order around two hours behind its scheduled time of 9am, following a recitation from the Holy Qur’an and na’at.

Friday’s question hour turned out to be a noisy, somewhat chaotic affair as many members appeared to be asking non-serious questions.

A member asked the fisheries minister how long freshwater stayed fresh, to which Mr Bhurgari replied that it was a question for the water department. When a lawmaker asked whether private fishermen or government employees were working in the fisheries sector, the minister started railing against the previous government. When the speaker urged him to answer the supplementary question, he replied that government employees had nothing to do with the fishing business.

The fisheries minister was asked how much fish was exported, to which he replied that the previous government concentrated on commissions.

When Mr Bhurt was asked what bird flu was, he replied that it was a disease.

On a point of order, Murad Ali Shah claimed that some members were trying to create disorder and that the speaker should overrule non-serious questions, which Mr Khuhro said he was doing.

A legislator asked the fisheries minister about pollution in Manchar Lake and reports that fishermen had been unable to make a living because it was threatening marine life. He said the report was not true and that fishermen were making a living at Manchar, adding that wrong information had been given to the questioner. He said a fisheries board was being constituted for the province and it would have ample representation of fishermen.

However, the speaker pointed out that since in the answer to another question the minister had stated that pollution exists at Manchar Lake, how could he say it was bearable for marine life. The minister promised to look into the matter and invited the members to the lake.

Zardari’s candidature

If the emphatic speeches made by legislators during Friday’s session were anything to go by, it would appear that no better qualified individual than Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari exists in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to occupy the high office of the nation’s president.

After question hour and the suspension of the relevant rules, lawmakers from both the treasury and opposition benches extolled Mr Zardari’s perceived virtues from the floor of the house as a resolution endorsing the PPP leader’s candidature for the presidency was tabled by Law Minister Ayaz Soomro.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Shoaib Bukhari began the parade of accolades when he said Mr Zardari had the courage to say yes to Pakistan after certain elements raised anti-Pakistan slogans following Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Praising the PPP co-chairman’s “practical patriotism,” he read out a few lines from MQM leader Altaf Hussain’s statement. Mr Hussain had, not too long ago, endorsed Mr Zardari for the slot of president.

Admitting that his party had supported former president Pervez Musharraf, Mr Bukhari appreciated the fashion in which Asif Zardari had handled a “chaotic situation.” He said it showed the PPP head’s “political acumen. I assure you that the MQM will be the proposer and seconder for Mr Zardari’s nomination,” adding that he had spent time in jail with the PPP leader.

The senior MQM lawmaker was also all praise for Mr Zardari’s gesture of having visited the graves of the Muttahida’s “martyrs” in Karachi on April 2 this year.

Leader of the opposition Jam Madad Ali spoke in favour of having a president from Sindh while Labour Minister Amir Nawab, who belongs to the Awami National Party, praised the PPP chief’s “political vision.” PPP lawmaker and son of estranged People’s Party leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Makhdoom Jamil-uz-Zaman – who had been keeping a low profile of recent in the build-up to Pervez Musharraf’s resignation – also endorsed Mr Zardari’s bid for the presidency.

Pakistan Muslim League-F member Nusrat Abbasi, while backing the resolution, said that the PPP’s responsibility would double in case both the prime minister and president came from its ranks.

In a fiery speech, Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza hailed the “courage” of Asif Zardari and said some opportunists had raised anti-Pakistan slogans soon after Ms Bhutto’s death. In a much cooler tone Youth Affairs Minister and deputy leader of the MQM’s parliamentary party Faisal Sabzwari said that “our life and death is intertwined with the fate of this province.”

‘One voice’

Senior Minister and the PPP’s parliamentary party leader Pir Mazharul Haq said that today, Sindh had spoken in one voice. He praised “Urdu-speaking Sindhis” for their show of unity, which he said was the need of the hour. Perhaps sending a message to the PML-N, he said “the bigger province as well as the other provinces should listen to our voice.”

Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah wound up the speeches by terming the occasion a “red-letter day” before the resolution was unanimously passed by the house. After the resolution’s passage, Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro appreciated the “tolerant and friendly atmosphere” in which the business of the house had been conducted on Friday.

Earlier, members of the press corps staged a token walkout over the murder of Dadu-based journalist Azim Leghari and the political victimization of journalist Mukhi Tekamdas.

Following question hour, Information Minister Shazia Marri raised the issue through a point of order while the chief minister told the house that the journalists were rightly angered and that he had appointed the DIG Hyderabad to investigate the case.Answering the media’s questions after the session, Ms Marri said – in reference to Mr Zardari – that he was not a member of any parliament in the country and that it was not a crime to be a member of a political party. When asked if she had any information on the replacement of the Sindh governor, she replied in the negative.

The house was adjourned at 1.25pm to meet again on Monday at 9.30am.